Stanton Post Office

(April 11, 1912 – February 15, 1921; June 29, 1921 –        )

The City of Stanton was originally incorporated in May of 1911, but was without a post office for almost a year. In February 1912 a petition was sent to Washington and soon approved. “Postmaster George A. Tyree has received from Washington a mail bag full of supplies by rural carrier, and by telegram it was ascertained that he was appointed postmaster April 12. He is looking for his commission daily. The post office will be located in the store to be opened by H.P. Kempinski on the corner of Main street and Stanton avenue.” (L.A. Times, 4-17-1912) The Stanton Post Office was briefly discontinued in 1921 in favor of rural free delivery. “J.F. Ahlborn, postmaster at Anaheim … said that the rural route would in many instances take the mail to the gates of persons who hitherto have been forced to go to the post office.” (Santa Ana Register, 2-3-1921) But enough local residents still preferred their own post office, and it was reestablished after less than five months. In 1956 the Post Office Department proposed reducing Stanton to a branch of the Anaheim Post Office, which was already serving much of the area on a rural route. In fact, to have mail delivered to the Stanton City Hall it had to be addressed to Anaheim. At that time the Stanton Post Office still did not offer home delivery, with residents in the old downtown business district still having to come in to the post office to get their mail. Things got rather hot for a while (with civic pride on the line) and longtime postmaster Mary Jane Davis even considered resigning, but in the end, the Stanton Post Office held on and in 1959 was advanced to 1st class and opened a new building three times the size of its old office. 

Postmasters:

George A. Tyree, 1912

            George Tyree served only eight months as postmaster. He may be the same George Tyree who served on the Redlands City Council in the 1920s. 

John V. Richardson, 1912-1917

            John Richardson apparently had a store in Stanton, which hopefully paid better than the post office job. His postmaster salary for 1915-16 was only $201. 

Edith S. Walley, 1917-1920 

Robert S. Garnett, 1920-1921 

Elsie M. Ayres, 1921-1922 

Nellie H. Straw, 1922-1926

            Nellie Straw’s husband, William, was the local blacksmith. He died in 1926, which may have led her to resign the post office job. 

John H. Rutledge, 1926-1936

John Rutledge died in office in April 1936. 

Mary Jane Davis, 1936-1962

            The pay was still so small at the Stanton Post Office (less than $700 a year) that almost no one could be found to apply for the postmaster position after John Rutledge died. Finally, his granddaughter, Mary Jane Davis, stepped up and agreed to take the job. She went on to serve as postmaster for more than quarter of a century until resigning due to ill health. 

Hazel L. Lewis, 1962-1972

            Hazel Lewis was already working for the Stanton Post Office by 1955 and helped in the fight to secure full postal service for the city in the late ‘50s. “Mrs. Lewis, a former Stanton councilwoman, is a member of the Orange County and State Democratic Central Committees and the State Regional Water Pollution Control Board. She also serves as a trustee of the Orange County Mosquito Abatement Board.” (L.A. Times, 9-16-1962)

(You can find more about Orange County’s post offices and postmasters here)